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Muskegon County moves with 'aggressive' schedule for jail and juvenile transition center

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An architect's rendering from early on in the design process shows a southwest-looking view of the planned new Muskegon County Jail. The existing courtroom and jail are shown in tan, and the new jail is shown in gray.
(Contributed)

MUSKEGON, MI – A meeting with city officials Tuesday is the next step in a fast-moving schedule for building Muskegon County's new jail and juvenile transition center.

Muskegon County is requesting a variance in zoning regulations from the city’s zoning board of appeals. The board of appeals meets 4 p.m. Oct. 8 at Muskegon City Hall, 933 Terrace St.

The Juvenile Transition Center is headed toward a mid-November groundbreaking and the jail would have an early-January groundbreaking, County Administrator Bonnie Hammersley said at a Jail and Juvenile Transition Center Committee meeting Oct. 3. Planned work for the juvenile transition center will go out to construction firms for bids Oct. 22, Hammersley said.

“We’re being pretty aggressive in moving forward,” she said. “Nothing’s going to stop us now.”

The county's new jail has been discussed and debated for decades. But the county successfully closing a bond sale Oct. 2 means that the $39 million project including the jail and juvenile transition center will be fully funded.

The county’s variance request deals with a zoning ordinance that requires all structures to be built 10 feet back from the public right of way. Muskegon County wants to put an enclosure with mechanical equipment 2 1/2 feet from Pine Street.

Several other buildings in the area are located within the required setback and the county’s parcel is unique, having “front yards” with required setbacks on all four sides, according to the county’s application.

In working on other site issues, “the city is being extremely accommodating,” Hammersley said.

The jail and juvenile transition center committee, and the citizen’s review committee are now meeting once a month rather than every two weeks, because there are fewer decisions to be made about construction. The Jail and Juvenile Transition Center Committee will meet next at 3 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 7.

Muskegon County Finance and Management Services Director Heath Kaplan said that most of the review committee’s concerns at a recent meeting concerned with there being enough parking.

“We’re assuring them that we are taking all necessary steps,” he said. “We will have plenty of parking.”